NMSU Baseball Takes Game Two At Gonzaga 2-1

SPOKANE, WA - The New Mexico State baseball team looked to even the series with Gonzaga on Saturday night at the Patterson Baseball Complex. The Aggies put up a pair of runs over the first two innings and strong pitching held the lead to take down the Bulldogs 2-1.

NM State (34-17) was able to get out to their quickest offensive start of the season when leadoff hitter Logan Bottrell had a full count and turned on the next pitch that traveled well over the fence in right field. This solo home run put the Crimson & White on top of Gonzaga (25-21) 1-0 through one inning.

This lead for the Aggies then expanded in the top of the second with solid contact at the plate. David Bellamy led off the frame with an infield single to get things going. Two batters later, Joey Ortiz was able to lace an RBI triple to the right field corner and put NM State ahead 2-0.

The Bulldogs were able to answer and get one run on the board in the bottom half of the second inning that cut the Aggies lead in half. With two on and two outs, Gonzaga saw a base knock to the middle of the infield bring in one run.

Over the next few frames, the starting pitchers looked to be on cruise control as they made easy work of the opposing bats and combined for six one-two-three half innings heading into the bottom of the seventh.

That was when Gonzaga threatened to get back on the board. The Bulldogs led off the bottom of the seventh with a double to left field and the runner moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. Following a great grab at first base to force two outs in the inning, a walk put runners on the corners. The man 90 feet from home was the closest the Bulldogs would get, however, when the inning ended with a fielder’s choice to shortstop and the Aggies lead stood.

Brock Whittlesey then came to the mound and shut the door on Gonzaga with a pair of scoreless frames to close the game and secure the Aggies 2-1 victory. Groff (9-2) earned the win and now leads the Western Athletic Conference with nine on the year, while Whittlesey earned his ninth save that ties the single-season record in NM State program history.

The rubber match between NM State and Gonzaga is set for 4 p.m. MT on Sunday, May 13, at the Patterson Baseball Complex.